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Wednesday, 4 December 2013

Sepia Saturday - Bobs, Waves and Rolls

Sepia Saturday give bloggers an opportunity to share their family history and memories through photographs.

This week's main theme was Aprons. My mother was a great apron wearer and maker - from the wrap-around overall for wash day, and the pocket apron for carrying dusters and polish up and down stairs to the butcher's apron style for baking to the dainty frilled waist pinny for serving tea. She made them all herself and was a stalwart sewer for any local fete or Christmas fair. But I have no photographs of her in her work-a-day wear. So, looking at the lady on the left here, I have focussed instead on hairstyles of the 1920's. 30's and 40's

The impact on the First World War on the changing role of women saw an abandonment of the traditional long hair styles of the Victorian period to the new short styles of the bob, finger-wave, Marvel wave, shingle and Eton crop, with their popularity continuing well into the 1930's.

An elegant unidentified portrait in my husband's collection -

thought to be a relation of his great aunt Annette.

My great aunt Jennie Danson who sacrificed her long plait for the new look.

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My mother Kathleen Danson -Jennie's niece, though there was only 11 years difference in their ages.

My mother again - with more waves this time﻿

My mother's second cousins Elsie Oldham - "Elise" c. 1920's

I have told the story of Elsie before on my blog, but it fits this theme so beautifully I could not help but repeatit.

Perhaps the French adaptation of her name to Elise was regarded as more appropriate for a hairdresser. ﻿ ﻿﻿﻿The business was conducted from the rather less glamorous setting of her home (below) with the large adverts in the windows and on the pole outside

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The Oldham home in Blackpool, Lancashirewith the adverts in the window & on the garden pole.

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In the 1930''s and 1940's a softer look crept in, with curls and waves all the rage, and during the war the "roll" was the defining style. This was the age of trying to emulate Hollywood glamour, despite the realities of life during the depression and war.

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My mother again - Kathleen Danson

My aunt - Edith Danson

Another new look for my mother who seems to have adopted an Austrian style, with what looks like braids over her head. She was always very proud of her distinctive widow's peak.

Interesting take on the theme! I remember my Mom having those metal crimp clips to set waves in place. I don't recall her having a hair roll for those glamorous 40's styles, but I used a circular chignon roll in my teens & early 20's because ponytails didn't seem quite right for the working girl back then. Eventually, though, I had my hair cut in the 60's bubble style.

A beautiful medley of hair styles. I know that celebrities from cinema and theater influenced fashion, but it would be interesting to compare how the different national stars changed the popularity of hair styles.

These hairstyles remind me of women in The Great Gatsby. Your mom and aunt look like twins in their younger photos. I should head down Google lane for 'Marvel lane, shingle and Eton crop.' Very interesting.

It seems almost criminal not to have photos of your mother in her aprons, something she was KNOWN for, something so characteristic of her. But I have maybe 2 pictures of my mother sewing and she sewed all the time. I guess it just became an ordinary part of the day like making the bed or reading the paper that her sewing didn't seem "special" enough to record in a photograph.

About Me

I have been interested in family history for years. It all began when I was allowed as a child to look through the old family photographs and memorabilia kept in a shoebox in the cupboard at my grandfather's house. That treat started me on a fascinating ancestral trail.